The person that had gone to invite Lu Song was one of the seventh prince's subordinates, Xuan Tianhua. Following Xuan Tianhua's intentions, he had only told the left prime minister to come and collect the corpse. As for whose corpse to collect, Lu Song was still puzzled.
As for the governor, Xu Jing Yuan, who had come in later, he had listened to Ban Zou's instructions before following the Yao family's servants over. Not only had he come on his own, he had also brought along an official and a coroner. It was as though he had come to handle a case. This caused Lu Song to feel confused once more.
But when he walked through the Yao manor's gates and saw the corpse on the ground, he was immediately woken up.
He stopped in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at the corpse. Aside from the horror on his face, there was even more disdain and anger. No matter what, Lu Song never thought that the person that he had sent out of the province would suddenly return and appear in the Yao manor. But why did he die? Damn it! He did not die earlier or later, but he chose to die at this time, and he died in the Yao family. Lu Song looked at Lu Yao then looked at everyone present. He could not help but feel a wave of regret. If he knew earlier that this would happen, he would have made up his mind to choke this unfilial son to death.
"Lord Lu, why are you standing here and not going in? His Highness the seventh prince is still waiting for your reply. " The guard that had invited Lu Song very impolitely spoke to him. What standard first rank left prime minister. In his eyes, he was nothing.
Lu Song was given a fright and quickly found where Xuan Tianhua was. He practically trotted over. Without saying a single word, he lifted his robe and kneeled at Xuan Tianhua's feet, loudly saying: "This official Lu Song greets his Highness Prince Chun!"
Because this person had been called over by Xuan Tianhua, the others did not say anything. They just waited for Xuan Tianhua to deal with him. But Xuan Tianhua acted as though he did not see or see him. With his hands behind his back, he looked around and ignored Lu Song.
Lu Song was also someone who could endure. He just knelt on the ground without any complaints. Whether he was a standard first rank or not, what was he worth in front of a prince? Moreover, he knew very well how he became the Left Prime Minister. It just so happened that there was such a vacancy in the imperial court. The Emperor saw that no one else could climb up, so he conveniently gave it to him. However, as the Left Prime Minister, the pressure in his heart was also great. To put it nicely, he was the backbone of the country. To put it bluntly, everyone in the Dashun Dynasty knew that the Emperor would appoint whoever he did not like as the Left Prime Minister. Once the Left Prime Minister position was secured, what followed was a round of suppression. In the past, Feng Jin Yuan was like this. Feng Jin Yuan's predecessor was also like this. The position of Left Prime Minister in the Dashun Dynasty had never been an easy one!
Of course, not all Left Prime Ministers were unlucky. In the previous dynasty, there were some that stood out, but they had placed their bets correctly. They had betrothed their daughters to a prince that would succeed the throne in the future.
Lu Song also hoped that such a day would come. As long as he could make a comeback in the position of Left Prime Minister, what did today's humiliation count for? Although the Emperor had the intention of passing the throne to the Ninth Prince, who knew what would happen in the future? The Emperor's health was good, and those princes were not given for nothing. He wanted to see exactly who would win and who would lose in this game of chess.
While he was thinking, Xuan Tianhua finally replied; however, he asked him: "The one that died, was it your son?"
Lu Song quickly replied: "Replying to your Highness, it was this official's eldest son. His name was Lu Cuo." For a while, he had only been thinking about the big picture and had forgotten how a father should act when faced with the sudden death of his eldest son.
It was not just Xuan Tianhua that was surprised. Even the officials, madams, and young misses present were puzzled. They could not help but begin to discuss this in private. As for Lu Song, when he heard the discussions, he managed to react to what had happened. But if he turned around and cried about his son, it would seem too fake. For a while, he did not know what he should do.
Xuan Tianhua was not in a rush. Picking up a chair from the side, he sat down and looked at the coroner that was examining the corpse.
The coroner had listened to Ban Zou's instructions earlier. Now, he was even more proficient in his examination. He directly looked at the neck of the corpse. While looking, he said: "The throat was pierced by a sharp object. This is fatal. It's about two centimeters long." As he spoke, he opened the corpse's collar and removed the upper garment. "There are scratches on the back of the neck. There are water plants in the hair. There is a fishy smell in the air. It is not rainwater. It should have been soaked in pond water. The heel of the shoe is damaged. It should have been dragged by someone. The time of death is about a quarter to nine. "
The coroner very quickly recited the autopsy report. He then looked at Xu Jing Yuan and nodded: "Lord, it was his fault."
Xu Jing Yuan's expression was cold, as he turned his gaze toward Lu Yao's side; however, he turned his head and said to Yao Xian: "Lord Yao, will this lowly official bring the suspect back for a retrial, or will the trial be carried out on the spot?"
Yao Xian waved his hand: "The trial will be carried out immediately! I want to see just what sort of person dares to kill someone in my Yao manor and frame my precious granddaughter after killing him. "
Xu Jing Yuan took a deep breath. Before he had come, he had already heard Ban Zou speak about the situation here. He just thought that the people from the Lu Family really were bold. They actually dared to throw dirty water at Princess Ji 'an. If this was not madness, what was it?
Having received permission from Yao Xian, he immediately began to work on the case. He had already sat down in the seat of honor that Yao Xian had vacated. Following the procedure, he first found everyone that had been to the scene of the incident and the people that had been there. He then investigated them one by one. In the end, his target was Feng Yu Heng and the people from the bridal courtyard.
But Feng Yu Heng was not in a rush. Xu Jing Yuan was one of her people. She naturally trusted this person's ability to handle cases.
Sure enough, Xu Jing Yuan did not investigate her side. Instead, he set his sights on the people from the Lu Family in the bridal courtyard.
The three kneeled on the spot. The wet nurse was still desperately emphasizing that Feng Yu Heng was a suspect; however, Xu Jing Yuan's subordinates did not hold back in the slightest. Raising the baton in their hands, they smacked her on the back. This caused the old woman to nearly cough up a mouthful of blood. Hearing the officer shout, "Silence!", they didn't dare to say another word.
As for Xu Jing Yuan, he was a smart person. He knew that there would be no end to this matter with the servants. The servants would throw a tantrum and refuse to admit to anything. He did have the time to waste with them, but if he wanted to solve this case in a short period of time, it was not too possible.
But he had no choice but to solve it on the spot. Yao Xian was waiting. This old imperial physician was someone favored by the Emperor, and he was Feng Yu Heng's maternal grandfather. No matter how bold he was, he did not dare offend him. Thus he thought quickly and came up with a plan.
"Lu Family's young miss, or this official should call you the Yao family's young madam. Do you know your crime?" Suddenly, Xu Jing Yuan threw out this sort of thing, scaring Lu Yao out of her wits. Even everyone present was slightly shocked.
Lu Yao was not kneeling in the middle of the ground, but Xu Jing Yuan had called her out, and the officials immediately went to carry it out. Grabbing Lu Yao, they pressed her to the ground and forced her to kneel.
Lu Yao was unreconciled and repeatedly shouted: "Why are you grabbing me? Let me go! I am the second young miss of the Prime Minister's Mansion of Zuo. What right do you have to treat me like this? "
Xu Jing Yuan snorted coldly, "Your father, who is the current left prime minister, is still kneeling on the ground. What sort of injustice are you complaining about?"
Lu Yao was startled and managed to react to look at Lu Song. Only then did she find that Lu Song was still kneeling at the seventh prince's feet. The seventh prince had not called for him to get up, so he did not dare get up. Her heart trembled, and she no longer struggled; however, she still felt unreconciled and said: "Lord Xu has come to handle a case. The victim is my older brother. What have you brought me here for?"
Xu Jing Yuan coldly said: "This official has called you forward for a reason. So what if he's your older brother? There are some people that are so vicious that they would even do something to their own older brother. "
"You …" Lu Yao did not think that Xu Jing Yuan would be so arbitrary, immediately pinning this crime on her. But she was not afraid, and her argument was reasonable: "Don't make false accusations. How could I do something to my own older brother? That's impossible! Moreover, he's a grown man, and I'm a weak girl. How could I have the ability to kill him? "
These words were reasonable, but Xu Jing Yuan snorted disdainfully. At the same time, he waved to his subordinates: "Go and remove the shoes from young miss Lu's feet."
"What are you doing? Why are you removing my shoes? " Lu Yao was a little panicked. Her shoes had been removed for no apparent reason in front of everyone. For a girl, this was a great humiliation. Even Yao Shu was unable to continue watching. He wanted to go forward and say a few words; however, he was stopped by Yao Jing Jun.
As for the officials, how could they pay any attention to Lu Yao's cries. They were very nimble in removing her shoes. In just a few moments, they had removed her shoes and brought them to Xu Jing Yuan. Xu Jing Yuan received them and looked at the bottom of the shoes. The corners of his lips curled up into a sneer: "The bottom of the shoes is covered in mud and dried grass. It can be seen that young miss Lu has been to the scene of the murder."
Lu Yao angrily shouted: "I had been there to begin with. I met with my older brother and went back after receiving a gift. It's normal for my feet to be covered in mud. It was raining heavily today. Lord Xu, what sort of evidence is this? "
"Oh?" Xu Jing Yuan sneered, "This does not count as evidence? Then that's good. "He then threw the shoes to the coroner and had him smell the mud and grass on the bottom of the shoes. He then looked at the top of the shoes.
The coroner sniffed and immediately said: "There's a fishy smell. It's not rain. It's the smell of stagnant water from the river." He then looked at the top of the shoes, "There are wet marks and splashes." After saying this, he took the initiative to step forward and ordered the officials to grab Lu Yao's fingers and examine them carefully. He then said: "There are traces of skin on the fingernails, and there are traces of nail polish on the back of the victim's neck. It's the same color as the fingernails of the Lu Family's young miss." He then looked at the accessories on Lu Yao's head and suddenly pointed at a hairpin, saying: "This hairpin has a thin branch that matches the fatal wound on the victim's throat."
Lu Yao was extremely shocked, "How could that be?" When had she grabbed the back of Lu Cuo's neck? How could there be nail polish? The hairpin on her head … could it stab someone to death?
In her panic, she subconsciously looked at the chubby servant at her side. That servant naturally understood. She was the one that had killed him. It was not Lu Yao at all. But now, Xu Jing Yuan had already placed the blame on Lu Yao. Lu Yao had always been cowardly. Looking at her at this sort of time, she definitely wanted to sell her out. She still did not want to die and quickly said: "Impossible! How could my family's young miss kill her elder brother? There's … there's no motive! " After saying this, she immediately understood why Xu Jing Yuan had pinned those crimes on Lu Yao. He wanted to make use of Lu Yao's fear and inability to take responsibility. Once Lu Yao panicked, she would definitely reveal the true culprit. When that time came, she would have no choice but to admit it. This governor really played a good game of chess!
The maidservant secretly gritted her teeth; however, she heard Xu Jing Yuan say: "You want a motive? Very well! This official also has a motive! "
At this time, someone from the gatekeeper's side ran forward and loudly said: "Granny Gui from the palace has arrived."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
